Self-Compassion: Letting Go of Judgment

by dena on February 3, 2014

Take a moment and listen to yourself. If you have a mishap or fail at a task, listen to the thoughts and judgment you allow to pass through your mind. How often do you put yourself down for a small failure? How often do you criticize every little thing you do? Have you ever insulted yourself for your appearance or behavior? These actions are among the many ways we judge ourselves on a daily basis.

Negative thoughts will impact your mood, behavior, and how you interact with your friends and family members. In addition, the judgment you pass on yourself (when negative) may also severely impact your health in a negative way, including depression and anxiety. To alleviate this, we must let go of the judgment.

How to Let Go of the Judgment…

Be compassionate and understanding. Be compassionate not only to others, but also to yourself! You never know what battles someone is attending to when you meet them. Understand they may be dealing with circumstances outside of their control, and offer compassion. Remember to extend that same compassion to yourself during the trials and obstacles you may face.

Acknowledge the flaw or failure, and then move on. We judge ourselves when we dwell on a certain flaw. Instead of allowing that judgment the time and energy it takes to put ourselves down (and trust me, it is exhausting!) we can direct that energy elsewhere, such as complimenting ourselves. Sure, I made a mistake, but up until that point everything I was doing was going well. I can choose to focus on the success I had instead of on the loss.

In the end, the best way to stop being judgmental is to just let go of the judgment and to practice love instead. Love yourself fully, and accept all of your perfections and flaws. Once we’ve embraced love, and extended that love to ourselves, we take one more step in the right direction toward inner peace.

At least once a day, I am willing to:

remind myself of what I have done right, when I notice thoughts of mistakes;

accept myself, with all my strengths & weaknesses;

look into my eyes in the mirror and say, “I love you.”

Isn’t it time you stopped judging yourself and started loving yourself instead? Let us know in the comments what actions you take to let go of judgment and embrace self-love.

Blissings, Dena

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A wonderful post, Dena! I find that almost daily I have an opportunity to practice compassion. Recently, I had to find compassion for a friend who was rude (it took me a little while). And then I needed compassion for myself, too, as I realized I probably could have handled it better (I was upset with myself). Thanks for a great reminder. ;-)